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Breaking Down the ‘System’

Scott Westerfeld is the author many bestselling young adult novels, including the Uglies” trilogy and the “Leviathan" series. He has also written several science fiction novels for adults.

Updated December 27, 2010, 3:43 PM

Teenagers are at a stage of life where they must tangle with almost adult responsibilities — school, work, college applications — and yet they haven’t been granted many adult powers or respect. They’re encouraged to work, but generally at menial jobs, and when they show up to spend their money, they’re carefully watched, assumed to be shoplifters and loiterers.

What is the apocalypse but an everlasting snow day? An excuse to tear up all those college applications?

Schools are places where teens are subject to dress codes, have few free speech rights, and are constantly surveilled, where they rise and sit at the sound of a bell. Is it any wonder that dystopian novels speak to them?

Of course, the other side of the boom in dystopian teen novels is a boom in post-apocalyptic tales. The system is asking a lot from teenagers and not giving them much respect in return, so it’s no wonder that stories about that system exploding, breaking down under its own contradictions, or simply being overrun by zombies are also beloved of teenagers.

What is the apocalypse but an everlasting snow day? An excuse to tear up all those college applications, which suddenly aren’t going to determine the rest of your life?

My last two series are about these two extremes: dystopia and apocalypse. “Uglies” is set in a society based on surveillance and control, which is where our “zero tolerance” schools are headed. And “Leviathan” is set in World War I, the historical moment when it became clear that we didn’t need gods to bring about apocalypses anymore, technology would do just fine.